A blog about me, my Standard Poodle, Teddy, and whatever else I feel like including.
"[Poodles] are Labradors with a college education. After a day of retrieving, your Lab wants to curl up and snore in front of the fire. A poodle wants to be a fourth at bridge and tell naughty stories." -Anne Rogers Clark

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Teddy is 5!

Well, last week Teddy had his 5th birthday! I can't believe how quickly these last 5 years have flown by. Not only has this curly headed boy taught me a lot about training, he has taught me patience, diligence, and how not to give up. I still have a lot left to learn, and I hope that he will be around for many more years of lessons.

So, for once his birthday fell on the night of our favorite class-agility. Teddy was recovering from a bad case of pancreatitis from the week before. If it had not been his birthday, we would have stayed home to continue resting. I decided that we would just go and play because I knew that he had missed going to class and he would enjoy just being there. I had no expectations, Teddy could do whatever he wanted, and I couldn't complain. That's pretty much what happened, too. If you didn't know any better, you would think that the dog in the videos below was just slacking off or did not know how to do the obstacles. But, I know my dog, and these are definitely videos of a dog not feeling well. We have been making small progress here and there, and Teddy was not himself that night. That being said, we are having some contact issues, as you can see when I reached under the A frame and pulled out a target, Teddy remembered his job. But that's a story for another day.

Teddy is getting a little better as time is going by, but I have to be very careful what he eats, and I'm letting him take a break for a while and rest so that he really heals. Anyway, watch the videos if you dare, but please don't judge. They are not meant to be shining examples of how an agility dog is supposed to look, it's just a recovering dog on his birthday having fun and doing what he wants. But the second video does have music! I have one more video taken in my backyard, but that will have to wait until I have time to do the editing.